On Our Own Path

Written by Bessie on Monday, October 12, 2009 in Korea, Republic of
Feelin' normal

I've answered the question a few times of "hey, my friend/ sister/ cousin wants to get a job teaching in South Korea, any advice?"  Here's my response:

A Primer
Teaching in Korea can be a fun, fairly easy way to spend a year, if you can handle the culture shock & living in another country - one teacher worked at our school 1 day, and then flew back home.  Be sure you're ready for the every day routine of being in a classroom, although once you're in the routine of it, it's not too bad to manage.  I know teachers that take the teaching part seriously & really care about their students, and then there are others that show up to work hung over and don't put forth much effort.  You need to be a native Engiish speaker & have a university degree, outside of that, it's pretty easy for anyone to get a job.

The Perks
As for what you get in return, you'll make about US$2,000/month, apartment paid, flights to and from Korea, a 1 month bonus when you finish a year, 100% pension matching benefits (an extra $1,000/year/person, excludes British & maybe Kiwis), and some health benefits.  Cost of living is lower here than in Western countries, Kyle and I have a daily budget of around US$45 together, so at the end of the year when we'll have made just under US$50,000, we'll hopefully save close to half of it.  (Although we know lots of people that easily blow their money every month, but we're disciplined in our budgeting.)

Making Many Recruiters Your Friend is Key
Start job searching at www.eslcafe.com.  There are loads of job posting & extrememly detailed forum posts that can answer about any question you might come up with.  The school year here starts around March 1, so there are big recruitment pushes for March 1 & for August after summer vacation.  The start to finish process takes about 2 months, but it's flexible.

Our strategy that was passed along to us, and I'll continue passing along is getting the recruiters to work for you & find you jobs.  Contact as many as 10 of them - it increases the odds that someone will find the sort of job you're lookin for.  (In case you're wondering, recruiters get paid by the schools to find them teachers, and they get paid up to 1,000,000 Won or US$1,000 after the teachers has worked there a while.)

I'd interview with a few of the big name Western run recruiters like Footprints & Canadian Connection because they're really good at what they do.  CC in particular has great FAQ that explain the process & life in Korea.  Then also apply randomly with recruiters that you find online & on the eslcafe job site.

Public v. Private School
The big choice you'll have to make is to work in a public school or private.  In a public school you have 30-40 kids in a class,  every level of English in the class and see each class only once every 1-2 weeks depending on the school.  You make lessons based off of a national curriculum & teach the same lesson over and over to classes for 1-2 weeks.  You have a mix of class & office hours, where teachers often spend hours online every day, and the days can drag by.  You usually have a Korean teacher in class with you all the time helping discipline, etc., and you're usually the only foreign teacher in the school.  You get 4-6 weeks vacation, half in winter/summer.

2nd option is to work in a private Hogwon.  The schools run the gammit from being well run to nightmares.  I know people that have sweet schedules only 4-5 hours in the afternoons, and then others with totally split schedules where you start early & end late with breaks throughout the day.  Our school is in the middle where they take good care of us & are cool, but we work 25-30 hours a week (slightly high) and have some planning & grading outside of that.  The big upside for me, is I have 5-10 kids in every class, I see them 2-5 days a week, and I can see them learning & get to know the kids.  The time goes fast, but you only get 2 weeks vacation, 1 over Christmas and the other in summer.  There are also 7 foreign teachers at our school & 15ish Korean teachers and staff. 

(A note on this, that coming to Korea and taking a job that you've never seen and working with people you've never met is obviously a crapshoot.  You have to be ready for about anything that gets thrown at you.  We know people that work at a good public school but get an unhelpful co-teacher, so they hate their job.  At our school, we have a co-worker that it's his 3rd school and he loves this one to pieces, but we know someone that worked there last here and hates the school to bits.  Big variables are flexibility & cultural understanding while working in a totally foreign environment & your own work style and how the school operates - structured curriculum v. this is sort of what you should teach this month.)

Potpourri of Advice & Information
Last bits of advice are to ask lots of questions & negotiate your contract - esl cafe forum can help with this info (over time pay, sick days, etc.)  When you get close to deciding whether or not to sign a contract, be sure to get in touch with people at the school, ideally talking/emailing with the school director and a foreign teacher working at the school that can verify the financial stability, working conditions, and answer general lifestyle questions.

Location is a big one, living in Seoul is great & there are loads of cities around Seoul that are great to live in, that's where we are.  Everything you need is within reach & cost of living is low - it's higher in Seoul, although most things are just cooler in Seoul, too.  You can get work in any part of the country - I've met people who are the only foreigner's in the small town:  you have to learn korean, you get paid more, and your social life might largely be the internet.

A note on Couple's Placements
Two people getting placed together in the same school or two schools close to eachother & living together is a couple placement.  They like it when you're married, but I know dating people that have gotten placed together and also two female best friends.  If you're not married, they'll most likely tell student's parents that you are, as that sort of thing doesn't fly here.  Your salary should be a few hundred thosuand Won higher & you should be placed in a larger apartment - it's adjusted because the school doesn't have the added cost of renting two apartments.

Don't hesitate to message us with questions or comments.  Hope it's helpful!

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